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Solutions April 2006
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Solutions 2006,
THE
marketplace for innovation and
networking
A
web-to-print distributor who
developed fruitful partnerships
at last year’s show looks
forward to this year’s
new networking opportunities.
Across
the country, seeds are being planted
in hopes of a fruitful harvest.
And in Alexandria, Va., preparations
are being made to ensure printing
professionals experience abundance
of their own, in the form of bountiful
orders—and relationships.
DMIA
is busy planning the printing
industry’s most anticipated
event—the annual Print Solutions
2006, to be held in Chicago from
Oct. 3-5. In addition to visiting
more than 300 booths showcasing
the best in the industry, attendees
will be able to participate in
educational Learning Labs with
sales, marketing and management
sessions. Innovation Stations
throughout the show floor will
feature the industry’s most
exciting new products in interactive
kiosks, and every exhibitor will
display an Innovative Application.
Traditional products won’t
be seen.
Events
include an opening reception,
sponsored by Glatfelter, the PEAK
Awards Celebration Banquet, Breakfast
of Leaders and a Casino Night,
sponsored by Appleton, for connection
and networking opportunities.
Newly-featured Idea Exchange Centers
will give distributors the opportunity
to talk about key issues with
their peers and build long-lasting,
rewarding relationships. And that’s
exactly what last year’s
show attendee Willie Brennan was
hoping for.
Brennan
|
For
Brennan, president of Columbia,
Md.-based distributorship Custom
Print Now Solutions, networking
at Print Solutions 2005 Conference
& Expo in Orlando proved exceptionally
beneficial. Brennan says he established
three positive relationships,
one of which he’s confident
will turn out to be very rewarding.
“When you meet people face-to-face,
you establish an immediate relationship
bond,” Brennan says. “The
more opportunities, the better.”
Four
years ago, Brennan started a distributorship
that offers custom web-to-print
solutions to end users. He discovered
that clients weren’t always
easy to find. But last year’s
conference revealed a market he
hadn’t previously considered:
partnerships with fellow DMIA
members. “I wasn’t
even expecting that,” Brennan
says. Now he plans to target his
web-to-print
technologies
primarily to distributors.
“It’s
all about people. It’s all
about relationships,” Brennan
says. “I’ve been in
printing a long time. Out of 10
people, one or two can get an
account. The other eight can’t.
A lot of distributors already
have wonderful relationships with
key accounts.” So, since
DMIA’s show, Brennan, who
lacked clients, has been partnering
with distributors who need web-to-print
solutions for established clients.
Typically, these distributors
provide off-the-shelf software
solutions, Brennan says. But he
can provide custom proprietary
solutions. Brennan subcontracts
his services, creating a win-win-win
solution. The client, the client’s
established distributor and Brennan
are happy. “I have three
success stories already,”
Brennan says.
Currently
Brennan’s working on what
he says could be a very rewarding
relationship with a fellow print
distributor—a relationship
he developed at last year’s
show. The distributor’s
client wants to streamline its
business, reduce cost and manage
its brand. The distributor suggested
a partial solution: automating
the printing of business cards.
But Brennan, with his web-to-print
expertise, said he could help
the distributor’s client
tackle direct mail, print inventory
and more. “If you provide
print-on-demand, you get it all,”
Brennan says. The distributor,
who benefited from meeting Brennan
face-to-face, seems eager to work
with Brennan.
Brennan,
who plans to attend this year’s
show, says he hopes he’ll
have even more opportunities to
network. He will, says Mike Pramstaller,
DMIA’s vice president of
meetings and exhibitions. “We’re
doing everything we can to make
this event a networking marketplace
rather than a product display.”
Primarily, networking opportunities
will be provided at 34 Idea Exchange
centers, with key topic-based
roundtable conversations facilitated
by an industry expert/DMIA member.
“We’re putting front
and center those valuable side
discussions that happen at all
industry events, and we’re
making them accessible to everyone,”
Pramstaller says. “It’s
one of several innovations at
this year’s show that says
‘You can’t miss this
event.’”
In
addition to networking opportunities,
Brennan says he was impressed
with the education sessions offered
at last year’s show. “My
advantage is to always be up-to-date—that’s
my competitive advantage,”
Brennan says. “I’m
in custom technology work, and
it’s good to know what other
people are doing, the best practices.”
He says attending last year’s
conference allowed him to do just
that.
Brennan’s
enthusiasm for DMIA, and its conference
and expo, is difficult to suppress.
He says he’s worked with
many associations throughout the
years, noting that he’s
consistently “flabbergasted”
by various associations’
lack of interest in its members.
But that’s not the case
with DMIA. “DMIA has impressed
me so much,” Brennan says.
“As far as trade associations
go, you are uniquely and totally
interested in helping me manage
my business right and grow my
business. I’m having a very
good experience.”
Idea
Exchange Topics Include…
•
Effective marketing for small
distributors
•
QuickBooks for distributors
•
Creating great customer surveys
•
1-to-1 programs that work!
•
Web-to-print innovations for distributors
•
Selling by email
•
How to add creative services –
design, marketing and ad agency
•
Finding successful promotional
products
•
Pre-employment testing –
what works, what doesn’t
•
Staff training and team building
•
Principals-only sessions: employee
compensation and recruiting
•
Writing business presentations….and
many, many more!
You’ll
see Innovative Applications such
as:
•
Pocket folder with collated inserts
produced on a continuous form
collator – no hand collating
required!
•
Email delivery of rebate checks
printed in homes and offices
•
Short run digital full-color,
perfect-bound books for client
presentations
•
Customized university recruitment
brochures
•
Bi-directional CD mailers –
sealed, opened,
resealed and reopened
•
Online customizable full-color,
saddle-stitched calendars. Clients
can choose a template, upload
photos and customize information
for 1-to-1 marketing
For
more information on Print Solutions
2006, THE marketplace for innovation
and networking, visit www.printsolutionsshow.com.
This year’s event will take
place Oct. 3-5 at the Donald E.
Stephens Convention Center in
Chicago. Register today. Compact
schedules (1- and 2-night stays)
are available.
